Police inspector and accomplished amateur fisherman Kenmochi has entered a fishing competition which will be broadcast on television, and Hajime and Miyuki are tagging along to fill out the three-man team slots. The finals are held on Seiren Island, which is widely regarded as a fisherman's heaven due to the unique sea current flowing into the bay, bringing plenty of fish with it. The members of the two other finalist teams happen to know each other: one team consists of three doctors led by head doctor Kageo, while the other team consists of salesmen from a pharmaceutical drug company supplying those same doctors. On the early first morning, just as the contestants and the production team want to get on the boat to get to the fishing spot of the day, they see the dead body of Doctor Kageo lying inside the boat house, which has been locked from the inside. There is another door into the boat house, but one has take a roundabout way to get there. As the group is making their way to the central lodge, they see a light moving from the boat house's other door towards the central lodge too, and when they arrive there, they discover that Doctor Kageo's body has been moved from the boat house to the central lodge by the murderer. As all people on the island were together during these events, it appears a third party on the island was responsible for the murder, or perhaps even the mythical Siren, which is said to roam near the island, bewitching men with her cry. When a second death occurs with another doctor being dragged into the bay by what appears to be a sea creature with extraordinary strength, most are convinced it is indeed the work of the Siren, but Hajime isn't too sure about that and swears to get to the bottom of this case in The Seiren Island Murder Case, collected in volumes 12 and 13 of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R ("The Young Kindaichi Case Files R").

Yes, yes, it's been a while. My last review of this running series dates from March, when I reviewed the (not so stellar) story collected in volumes 10 and 11. Volume 12 was released in April of this year, but as it contained an incomplete story I decided to wait for the release of volume 13, which came out just a while ago. To be honest, I really didn't like The White Snake Brewery Murder Case, so I have to admit my enthusiasm had waned a bit, and the series had dropped slightly on the priority list, but I do like this series in the end, so when I saw the latest volume was out, I just felt compelled to pick it up.

And I am happy I did, as The Seiren Island Murder Case turned out to be one of the more enjoyable stories the last few years! Part of it is definitely the setting: when I think of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, I think of serial murders taking place on isolated islands, but in truth, this setting had been used very seldom the last few years (only once or twice in the R series I think?). But there's just something... comforting to having a good old island murder story. Is there anything surprising about a storm hitting the island and the phones and radio not working once the first murder has happened? No, of course not, but that's not what you'd expect from this series anyway.

What I liked particularly about The Seiren Island Murder Case though is that it's a good example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Several murders occur throughout the story, and to be honest, none of them are really complex taken on their own: the first murder in the boat house for example is a bit too obvious once you get a grasp on the lay of the ground, while the second murder of the doctor being dragged into the bay is solved rather quickly by Hajime (it's a horribly simple, yet frightening trick) too. A third murder on the other hand is clearly "inspired" by a rather famous classic short story. But what this story does do is connect the various parts in an organic way through the setting of Seiren Island. As a setting, as a locale, Seiren Island works really well as a backdrop to these multiple murders, but without feeling overly artificial like in the (horrible) The Antlion Trench Murder Casefrom several volumes earlier, which had an overly contrived building at its setting. The murder methods are also completely distinct from each other, but do have some shared elements that once again strengthen that idea of connectivity, without making it feel like it's the same idea rehashed. I do have to admit that Seiren Island does feel a bit like other islands we have seen before in this series (especially the early ones), but as this setting is also closely linked to the actual murders, it still feels unique enough.

Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo often features stories that revolve around one big main trick, with every prop and movement being made solely to make that one trick work, but that's luckily not the case here, and it results in a story that is not overly deep perhaps, but very enjoyable to read as you see how everything ties into each other.

It's therefore a shame there also some really lost chances here. For example, the decisive clue pointing to the culprit is ridiculous. I love my share of visual hints, and this series has done quite a few very subtle ones that still feel as fair play, but this one goes far beyond subtle. It's basically just there to say "Look, there's a proper hint here", even though you have to squint your eyes to see it even when pointed out. And I was reading the collected release, as a paperback with good paper and ink: the serialized chapter in Shounen Magazine would've be printed with much worse ink and paper! The plan of the criminal also involves some actions taken by other persons which they might've anticipated, but certainly not counted on. The murders all necessitate planning, but there was no way the murderer could be absolutely sure things would go the way they wanted, so it feels a bit unconvincing there. This is odd, as at other moments, the story does go the trouble to ensure the events do feel convincing. For example, the "island isolated by a storm" trope might feel artificial, but it makes sense here, as the producer actually confesses very early that the TV crew waited for a storm forecast to hold the competition, as it'd make the show look better, despite the dangers.

Volume 13 also features the first few chapters of The Kindaichi Fumi Kidnapping Murder Case. The title pretty much gives it away, but Hajime's younger cousin Fumi is kidnapped at a Shinsengumi festival while Hajime was babysitting her. The kidnapper demands that a group of six people, who share their names with former Shinsengumi members, hand over the ransom money. It's been years since we last saw Fumi in this series I think, so that's nice (save for her being kidnapped) and while this story feels a bit similar to The Hayami Reika Kidnapping Murder Case at this moment (complete with the instructions designed to shake off the police) I'll have to read more to really make up my mind about this tale.

The Seiren Island Murder Case might not feel as a truly unique story, nor is it a particularly outstanding story in terms of mystery plotting, but it is a competent story that is an excellent example of how the quintessential Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo story should feel. It is easily one of the more consistent stories of the last few years in the currently running Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R series by using the humble ideas it has in a good, effective manner, and quite a relief after the disappointing story that precedes it.Original Japanese title(s): 天樹征丸（原）、さとうふみや（画） 『金田一少年の事件簿Ｒ』第１２＆１３巻

15 comments
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Glad to hear that this recent instalment makes for a good read. It's a shame that the solutions to some of the more interesting puzzles in this instalment might be somewhat easy or obvious - then again, my standards are probably lower than yours, and my acumen blunter than yours. I agree that there were one or two scenes in the White Serpernt Winery Murders that made the culprit/s stick out, but I thought there were still one or two good central ideas/ twists.

Looks like I should save either 'Siren Isle Murders' or 'Doll Island Serial Killings' for the last, as a treat...

Thanks for letting me know, as I wasn't aware that 'Gymnasium Murder' had been translated, and is about to be released! I need to get my hands on a copy - it's very exciting! But I first need to forget those wretched spoilers I gleaned from the movie I mentioned to you. As of now, I can still remember certain mechanics as to how the locked room was constructed. :(

It seems like there's already another book by Aosaki Yuugo available on the Chinese market: it seems to be called, 'Knocking on the door of a locked room'. Have you read it?

Going back to Kindaichi, I seem to recall an attempted kidnapping of Fumi in one of the earlier short stories: 金田一フミ誘拐事件? But the title of this current instalment, 金田一二三誘拐殺人事件, suggests that there will be murders implicated in the kidnapping, It would be interesting to see if this instalment will bear any similarities to 速水玲香誘拐殺人事件, as well as ゲームの館殺人事件.

I have read one story from Knockin' on Locked Door, and it was pretty good! It's a short story collection about two private detectives who share an office: one of them is a specialist in impossible mysteries, the other in incomprehensible mysteries. Very Queen-esque in execution.

I didn't double-check with the manga when I wrote the review, so for some reason I thought it was the Fumi Kidnapping Case, not the Kidnapping /Murder/ Case, but yeah, you're right, it's a murder case. And that definitely reminds of the Hayami Reika case. This new Fumi kidnapping case is quite different from the short story with the similar title though; Fumi was only kidnapped there because she just happened to see the face of the bank robber and he needed to get rid of his witness, while in this story, it is clear the culprit planned the kidnapping in detail (again, reminsicent of the Hayami Reika case).

Which reminds me, there weren't any real kidnapping cases in Tantei Gakuen Q... That series was a lot more diverse than Kindaichi Shounen in general, but funny they didn't do a grand kidnapping case too.

I very much enjoyed 探偵学園Q! One twist still stays in my mind after all these years... Thanks for the recommendation of ノッキンオン・ロックドドア - I'm not especially fond of short stories, but you make them sound quite appealing.

Looking forward to the completion of the instalment of 金田一二三誘拐殺人事件, and your review of it - hope it's good!

Super Danganronpa 2. The mystery plots are much better paced and structured compared to the first game (information flow is better controlled), and there's an uncanny laughing mirror relation with the first game, especially back when it was first released and nobody knew much about how those two games were connected. V3 felt less ambitious in comparison to the jump from 1 to Super 2.

Oh yeah, I read that news yesterday. I'm not sure what I should expect from that new series yet. I guess that Kindaichi Shounen is struggling more than Conan in regards to an aging fan population, so I can understand the experiment in setting the new series a few years later with an adult Hajime and Miyuki, but there are so many ways they can take this, I really have to see it before I can say anything about it.

The original Doumoto Tsuyoshi live-action drama had a few funny sketches with an adult Hajime though :D

I hope they don't decide to retcon everything to start the next part of the series if that's the case as I was waiting to see more of Takato's sister, but yeah, better wait and see first... I wonder if the magazine is throwing Kindaichi out or changing it to a sister company to save space for a newer series. Well, atleast it's not getting axed.

She's not that important of a character though, based on the fact that she doesn't appear after her arrest in Rosicrucian last chapter. I only see her as motivation for Takato to seek his true father or something.

I kinda threw her on the same heap as her father, as they're obvious part of the same storyline, but despite it getting mentioned quite early on in the R series (was it the second story?), the whole Takatoo thing has more-or-less been ignored since then. I wonder if Amagi even had something planned, or just winging it as he went.